Monday, 19 July 2004

The People's Open?

I have had a few more thoughts after our family visit to the Open on Friday and the exciting climax at Troon last night. The organisation of the whole event was first class. A voluntary army of local youngsters kept the catering areas free from litter and they constantly cleaned the mobile toilets. The marshals handled the large crowds with tact and efficiency. Whenever a player was ready to swing his club there was total silence from the crowd. Good play was always applauded no matter which country the player came from. The ban on cameras was observed completely despite there being no security checks at the entrances. The management of the Open was clearly in the hands of what we might call the Scottish equivalent of the provincial Daily Telegraph reading class. There was absolutely no sign of political correctness. But think how different it could have been.

A Blairite "People's Open" would have quotas for female, minority and handicapped players. There would be no place for real "minority" players like Tiger Woods or Vijay Singh who were at Troon on merit, an obviously outdated and elitist concept. Previous winners would be barred from competing taking part. The volunteers would have been replaced by a properly unionised and highly paid workforce, which would have known nothing about golf. The crowd would have booed foreign players and drunkenness would have been rife. Champagne would still have been served of course but only to members of the cabinet and their cronies and not to those spending their own money. The "people" would make do with beer.

You may think that I am claiming that this was some kind of elitist event. Well, it was and it wasn't. The winner (by one stroke) earned £720,000. Nearby Prestwick Airport was filled with executive jets and helicopters. But the vast majority of the crowd spoke with the strong accent of the west of Scotland, and were young and old, male and female and, I am sure, from all social classes. We don't need the state to run society. The people can do it for themselves.

4 comments:

Stuart Dickson (217.211.160.56) David Yes, quite right. I did have a wee think about whether to put Scotland or Scotland & Wales, but I was wanting to use Jon's phrase "our closest neighbour", which is singular. I chose Wales rather than Scotland as it is much closer to the "heart" of England:

-borders the English MIDlands -is nearer the geographic centre of England -is nearer the English capital -is nearer the largest concentration of population in England -is nearer to what I would describe as the phsychological soul of England: the beautiful county of Wiltshire, with its ancient English capital Salisbury

21 July 2004, 19:48:21 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

David Farrer (62.49.21.253) Even more alarmingly he has also failed in map-reading. England's closest neighbour is not France, it is Wales!

Stuart:

Are you not being rather "southernist"?

My late father was born in what is now Cumbria. Would his closest neighbour not be Scotland rather than Wales, which would explain why my mother grew up only 30 miles away in Dumfriesshire?

21 July 2004, 19:07:02 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Stuart Dickson (217.211.160.56) Jon's School Report:

I am sorry to narrate that wee Jonnie has failed both Sociology and Geography.

He has failed to grasp that modern English society is largely derived from the Franco-Norman culture of the middle ages; and that English society is merely a branch of a greater Indo-European civilisation

Even more alarmingly he has also failed in map-reading. England's closest neighbour is not France, it is Wales!

21 July 2004, 11:36:00 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Jon (212.115.22.130) the disconcerting habit of referring to "the Europeans" as a third party

Geographically you are of course right. Sociologically we have almost nothing in common. The simple fact that France our closest neighbour chooses to celebrate a bloddy communist revolution as a national day, says it all.

It is the Eurotraitors who have work hardest however to equate the words Europe / Eropean with the EU. When their opponents make the same errors, there is little credibility for complaints.

21 July 2004, 11:01:36 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Jon (212.115.22.130) If you like upholding the rule of law, you will like upholding human rights law, as it was voted into existence democratically.

The Rule of Law, refers to an idea, unfortunately long since passed away, that the Law of the country existed for the protection of the rights of the citizens. Current belief is that the law is a tool with which to bully the people and force social change upon them.

As such any law such as the Human Rights Act, which is a blatant power grab on behalf of the state, therefore falls outside the concept of the rule of law. All of the rights it provides are so called "Positive Rights" ie. rights paid for by someone else, someone who has no right to refuse payment.

Personally I think that backed by the Murdoch Press, a campaign against the iniquitous Human Rights Act would be a vote winner.

21 July 2004, 10:57:45 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

David Farrer (62.49.21.253) "You are a member of a teensy, weensy "libertarian" sect that has negligible adherents in real-life.

There are an alarmingly small number of them, Jon!"

More than you may think Stuart. The question is however: "Are we correct?"

As a result of reading all those Austrian School Economists (that's who we libertarians like), I changed my pension arrangements - against the advice of my advisor - and saved myself around £30K when the bonus cuts started.

1) "We dislike the American trait of exploding, not Americans as such." 2) "We dislike being told what to do by the English, in the interests of community of course. England itself is not a problem at all." 2b) "The French dislike being told what to do by the Americans, in the interests of community of course. America itself is not a problem at all."

See Jon, you and I are not so dis-similar. Its just that from where we stand, the prejudices of "the provincial Daily Telegraph reading class" appear bizarre.

If you like upholding the rule of law, you will like upholding human rights law, as it was voted into existence democratically. You cannot pick and choose which laws you like and not uphold the others. (It doesn't work with parking tickets for example!) Assuming that you are a democrat of course.

If you like, campaign against that law, but you will never get a mainstream political party to campaign against human rights during an election. It would be electoral suicide.

Finally, you have adopted from your newspaper the disconcerting habit of referring to "the Europeans" as a third party. The English ARE Europeans. It wouldn't hurt you to say "we Europeans".

David You are a member of a teensy, weensy "libertarian" sect that has negligible adherents in real-life.

There are an alarmingly small number of them, Jon!

20 July 2004, 19:05:30 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

David Farrer (62.49.21.253) An alarming number of us, Jon!

20 July 2004, 16:38:02 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Jon (212.115.22.130) As a Proud DT reader the comments about Xenophobia struck me as a bit off. 1) We dislike the Arab trait of exploding, not Arabs as such. 2) We dislike being told what to do by Europeans, in the interests of community of course. Europe itself is not a problem at all. 3) We have a very alarming obsession with the rule of law, which has been totally undermined by human rights law, that has taken ownership of the country away from the citizens.

Its shocking I know, but I'm sure that even some Scots hold similar views.

20 July 2004, 16:08:01 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Stuart Dickson (217.211.160.56) Yaffle I repeat: I did not say that "the provincial Daily Telegraph reading class" booed foreign players. But you only have to read their headline articles, their editorials, and their Letters pages to detect the strong whiff of xenophobia, especially when it comes to mainland Europeans and Arabs.

I had great fun seeing the DT and the Daily Mail squirming in the month before the European Parliament elections as it became increasingly clear that the UKIP was going to spoil Michael Howard's election night. For years the DT and DM have sown hatred for our European allies, but now they do not like the electoral consequences as the English lower middle-classes desert the official Conservative Party.

Famously, William Hague lost the last election for the Tories by aiming to attract the "Daily Mail" vote.

Fortunately, the majority of decent English people know this very well, and reject the xenophobia of large sections of their country's media.

Incidentally, when it comes to denigrating foreigners closer to home, Scots and Welsh, then it is actually the left-wing Guardian which excells!

As you point out, I would suggest that interminably patronising commentary, whether in tennis, athletics or football, is actually a far more insiduous and damaging form of xenophobia than the more demonstrative boo.

I don't care much for these sports as a spectator, but do have to admit a fascination with cycling. The decisive 3 stages of the Tour de France are actually starting from today, so no blogging from me this pm! If you want to see love and passion in sport, and tragedy and pain, you cannot beat the Tour.

What better exemplifies middle class Middle England than Wimbledon? Yet when did you ever see or hear any xenophobia there? Surely the attitude to foreign players there never goes beyond mildly patronising (hello Sue Barker)?

19 July 2004, 22:49:15 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Dave (81.77.118.220) My nephew aged 8 whose surname is Hamilton went to the 1st day having gone down all the way from Elgin with his Dad. Todd Hamilton spotted him with his 'Hammy' hat, got talking, discovered they shared the same name and that was that! He put my nephew on his trolley, had his picture taken with him, signed a golf glove and a keyring and gave them to young Tom, and has promised to email the other photos taken by his caddy to Tom. What a gentleman and now I'm hoping he thinks that Tom brought him luck and will handover ten percent of his winnings.....! He certainly earned some fans before he won with his charming behaviour towards the youngsters!

19 July 2004, 22:18:38 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Stuart Dickson (217.211.160.56) I should very much hope that English golf afficionadoes do not boo. I did not say that they did.

Booing of the European team has however been a feature of certain US golf courses in the past. But the Americans have always been a bit more demonstrative than the English when it comes to their disdain of foreigners.

I do vaguely remember Paul Gasgoigne being temporarily unpopular with the Tartan Army. But how can you stay angry with such a scintillating, witty flute-player for very long? (Did you see the recent photos of Mr Gasgoigne: he is now a challenger to Nigel Lawson as a born again skinny-malinx.) Jimmy Hill is another name of note that springs to mind, although he never managed to actually grace the park in an England shirt. I could name several other English football commentators of note that have been objects of public derision in this country.

However, the point still stands:

Scots like the rest of the world.

Readers of the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Express just wish that the rest of the world would go away and leave them in peace.

David Farrer (62.49.21.253) "The reason the good Scots citizens don't boo (indeed applaud) foreign golf players is that we like the rest of the world."

Does the crowd at Birkdale, Royal St George's or Lytham St Annes boo foreign players? I don't think so. Have Scottish football fans ever booed foreign players? Now and again.

19 July 2004, 15:44:58 GMT+01:00– Like – Reply – Edit – Moderate

Stuart Dickson (217.211.160.56) David

This is really my whole point. There is no "Scottish equivalent" of "the provincial Daily Telegraph reading class."

The English Tories, and their in-house newsletter the Daily Telegraph, are unique in Europe. The European political allies of the Conservative Party with which I am most familiar are the Swedish Moderates and the Swedish Christian Democrats. Yet despite sitting in the same Group, and accepting the same Whip, as the Tories, these 2 Swedish centre-right parties are miles removed from their English brethren. Their "borgerliga" ("bourgeois") media equivalent would be "Dagens Nyheter" which is so different from the "Daily Telegraph" that DN even supports the abolition of the monarchy!

(Incidentally, the Swedish Moderates are just itching to kick the Tories out of the European People's Party-ED Group.)

There is no Swedish, Flemish, Castillian, Hungarian, Latvian, French, ... or Scottish equivalent of "the provincial Daily Telegraph reading classes". They are unique to England, and a great scar on the international reputation of that country.

To associate the great, democratic game of golf; one of the Scots greatest gifts to the world; with the narrow self-interest of the complacent English bourgeoisie is a comparison too far.

The reason the good Scots citizens don't boo (indeed applaud) foreign golf players is that we like the rest of the world. Your average Daily Telegraph reader despises the foreigner.